Meanwhile, on Lake Superior

[gary_in_neenah]

A 689-foot freighter began taking on water Saturday morning after the massive ship hit an underwater obstacle in Lake Superior near Grand Portage, Minnesota, forcing about half of the 22 people on board to evacuate, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The Michipicoten, which was carrying taconite, a low-grade iron ore, was around 35 miles southwest of Isle Royale when it began flooding. Isle Royale is part of Michigan.

The Coast Guard said that there was no sign anything spilled into the water from the ship as pumps on board worked to displace the water and reduce the ship’s listing from 15 degrees to 5 degrees.

The Michipicoten was headed to port for repairs with the bulk carrier Edwin H. Gott alongside it.

The Michipicoten, is heading to port for repairs with the bulk carrier Edwin H. Gott,, alongside it.
U.S. Coast Guard, Border Patrol, and National Park Service vessels remain actively involved, the Coast Guard said.

The cause of the collision is under investigation.

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. (Brian Peterson/Star Tribune via Getty Images)


The collision occurred in the northwest part of the lake, which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border and is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.

 

[whitedust]

I wonder what they hit?

 

[rp7x]

the bottom of the lake

 

[gary_in_neenah]

Most of those boats have a similar draft and their routes hardly vary at all.

 

[rp7x]

lots of reefs and many ship wrecks , if they can hit a bridge i guess they can run aground

 

[m8man]

A local sad story, a boat capsized in keweenaw bay yesterday and there was some loss of life.

you never know when life can change

 

[whitedust]

the bottom of the lake

I would think the captain has mandatory alarms set for shallow draft water. Unless he is a complete knucklehead about to lose his license. I run alarms on my boat for shallow water set once and done even remembers when battery is pulled.

 

[euphoric1]

read a story the other day that the 12' crack may not have been from striking something underwater after all, and I would agree one would think the ship would have some form of navigational alarm to signal shallow water and would take the draft into consideration, one would also think there would be tried and true shipping routes they would follow as well. I haven't heard or seen anything more, the article read that the crack in the hull may not have been from an impact and they were investigating. My lake Michigan boat has a shallow water alarm on it. Beautiful picture Gary!!

 

[mezz]

I have heard that it was a stress fracture due to metal fatigue. The crack was reported to be 13' long. Might be time to pull this out to dry dock & inspect the entire hull. I would be leary of sending it back out considering the circumstances. Some of these ships are pretty old & with age comes brittle steel considering the loads that are carried and the flexing that occurs in rough waters over the many years of service.

 

[dfattack]

read a story the other day that the 12' crack may not have been from striking something underwater after all, and I would agree one would think the ship would have some form of navigational alarm to signal shallow water and would take the draft into consideration, one would also think there would be tried and true shipping routes they would follow as well. I haven't heard or seen anything more, the article read that the crack in the hull may not have been from an impact and they were investigating. My lake Michigan boat has a shallow water alarm on it. Beautiful picture Gary!!

I agree with you. I find it hard to believe it struck the bottom unless they were off course somehow.

 

[garageguy]

They added a 79ft. Section in the middle some years back to make it bigger.
Maybe the rest of the ship wasn't OK with it.
Probably ready for scrap